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An Iranian woman calling Iran International from the Netherlands said pressure and threats against critics extend beyond Iran’s borders, warning that fear has become systematic and long-lasting for those who speak out.
Mira said she had lived for years under surveillance and intimidation in Iran and now faces similar pressure abroad because of her public criticism.
“These fears are not imagined, and they have been placed inside us in a systematic way,” she said.
She urged international media and governments to move beyond documenting testimony.
“Do not just record people’s voices, and take them seriously,” she said.
A former senior Iranian diplomat said the risk of war with the United States is now greater than the chance of negotiations, warning that Iran has effectively lost its window for talks.
Qassem Mohabbali, a former director general for the Middle East and North Africa at Iran’s foreign ministry, said the current situation pointed toward a major confrontation rather than dialogue.
“At the moment, Iran has practically lost the opportunity to negotiate. The chance of war is much higher than the chance of talks,” he said in an interview with the Iranian news outlet Eghtesadnews.
Mohabbali said the United States had signaled it could consider a solution if Iran showed readiness to negotiate, but that Tehran had ruled out talks on issues such as uranium enrichment, its missile program and allied armed groups.
He said Washington had turned to what he described as “gunboat diplomacy,” pointing to the deployment of aircraft carriers in regional waters.
Mohabbali said regional countries could play a role but were not decisive, adding that they were worried about being drawn into a wider conflict.
He said a formal signal of readiness for political steps, including talks on enrichment, missiles and regional security, could still help prevent war.
Witnesses told Iran International that the body of a 50-year-old man who went missing during protests in central Iran was hard to identify because of severe head injuries, and that he was buried quickly under orders from authorities without a public funeral.
The man, identified as Nasser Movahednia, disappeared on the evening of Jan. 8 after joining protests in the town of Fooladshahr, near the central Iranian city of Isfahan, the outlet said, citing eyewitnesses.
According to the witnesses, security forces fired toward the group he was with, injuring one of his brothers, who returned home that night. Mohedenia did not return and was reported missing.
The witnesses said his family searched for him for a week without receiving any information, until they were asked on Jan. 14 to go to a morgue to identify bodies.
They said his body was difficult to recognize because of severe blows to the head.
The witnesses said authorities handed over his body the next morning and ordered that it be buried quickly without a funeral or public ceremony.
Witnesses told Iran International that a 28-year-old man was shot dead by security forces earlier this month during protests in a neighborhood of Isfahan, a major city in central Iran, in an incident they said took place in front of his mother and grandmother.
The man, identified as Pedram Saeidi, was killed on the evening of Jan. 9.
According to the witnesses, security forces pursued him toward his home before shooting him from behind. He died at the scene.
The witnesses said security forces took his body away after the shooting, and his family did not know where it was being held for several days.
They said the body was returned to the family four days later.
A senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the country’s armed forces were at peak readiness, following recent protests that were met with a violent security response.
Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, deputy commander of the Guards, said the capabilities of Iran’s armed forces were “very strong” and that they were in a state of full operational readiness.
“The threats from enemies have always existed. They are not just for today or yesterday,” Vahidi said, according to state media.
